The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-19
RECREATIONS
Continued from Firs, pagc.i

\ iitll iiNIc Will VI lnt pirlOt hoClulibico-
groups OF people assembled in your homes,
with wit and mimicry and joyiality, filing
the room with joy from tho door to the
mantel, and from the carpet to the ceiling,
Oh, is there any exhilaration like a score
OF genial souls in n room, each n add
Ing a contribution of his own individual
nerriment to the aggregation OF general
hilarity2
'%Supposc you want TO 90 abroad in the
city, then you will find the panorama and
the mt gallery and exquisite collections Of
pictures. You will find the Metropolitan
'museum and the Hist orical society rooms
full of rare curiosities, and scores OF places
which can stand plainly the test OF what is
right and wrong in amusemcnts. You
will find the lecturing hall, which has been
honorcd by the names OF Agassiz in nat
ural history, Doremus in chemistry, Boyn-
ton in geology, Mitchell in astronomy,
John u. Cough in moral reform, andscorcs
and hundreds of men who have poured
thcirwi and genius and ingenuity through
that particular channel upon the hearts
and conscicnces and imaginations OF men,
setting this country fifty years further in
advance than ii would have been without
the lecture platform.
al rejoice in the populariAltion OF out
door sports. | hail the croquet ground
and the fshcrman's rod and tho sports.
mans gun. In our cities life is so UNI
healthy and unnatural that when the
census represents a city us having
49D, 900 inhabitants, there are only POO, 200,
since il takes ut least two men 10 amount
10 n man, so depicting and unnerving
and exhaustive is this metropolitan life.
We want more fresh air, moro sunlight,
more Of the abandon OF field sports. |
cry out for Il in behalf of tho church Of
God as well NJ in behalf Of secular inter
csts. i wish that this winter our ponds
and OUT rivers and our capitoline grounds
might be all aquake with the heel and tho
shout OF the swift skater. | wish that
when the warm weather comes the grace
full oar might din the stream, and the even
ing tide he resonant with bOatsman's song,
the bright prov splitting the crystalline
biilow. We shall have the smooth and
grassy lawn, and we will call out people OF
all occupations and classes aud ask them
TO Join the ball-player's sport. You will
come back from these outdoor exercises
and recrcations with strength in your arm,
color Ia your cheek, and a flash in your
eye, and courage in your heart. In this
great battle that is opening against the
kingdom OF darkness We want not only Il
consecrated soul, but q strong arm and
stout lungs and mighty muscle. / bless
God that there are so many wcrcations
that have not on them any faint OF in-
EQUITY; rccrcations in which We may en-
gage for the strengthening Of the body, for
the clearness Of the intellect, for the illu-
mination Of the soul.
''Therc is still another form Of recreation
which ! commend to you, and that is the
pleasure Of doing good. have seen young
men, weak and cross and sonr in their
disposition, who by n heavenly touch
have Weakened up and become blessed and
houyani, the ground under their feet and
the sky over their heads breaking forth
into music. Oh says some young man
in the house today, Il should like that
recreation above all others, but / have not
the means My dear brother let us take
M account Of stock this morning. You
have u large estate, II you only
realize Il. Two hands. Two feet. You
will have, perhaps, during the next year
ut least $40 for charitable contribution.
You will have 300 cheerful looks, II you
j want 10 employ them. You will have
1900 pleasant words, II You want to speak
them. Now what an amount that II to
start With
"You 90 out tomorrow morning anil you
sc a ease OF real d~eslitution by the way
side. You give him 2 cents. The blind
man hears the pennies rafting in his hat,
and he says, Thank you, sir; God bless
W You pass down the street, trying 10
lool indifferent; but you feel from the very
depth oi your soul q profound satisfaction
that you made that man happy. You go
on still farther, and find n poor boy with a
whcelbaIrow, trying 10 get Il up on the
cufbstonc. lie fails in the attempt You
say, Stand back, my lad; let me try You
push II up on the curbstone for him, and
pas on. lIo wonders who that well.
Dressed man was that helped him. You
did a kindness 10 the boy, but you did q
great Joy 10 your WI soul. You will not
get over Il all the week.
'On the street. tomorrow morning, you
will sac q sick man passing along. All,
you say, what can / do 10 make this man
happy He certainly does not want
money; he Is not poor, but he Is sick.
Give him one OF those $500 cheerful looks
that you have garncred up for the whole
year. Look joy and hopcfulnoss into his
soul. twill Thrill him through. and there
will he n reaction upon your own soul.
Going q little farther on, YOU will come a.
the store OF 4 friend who IN embarrassed
In business matters. You will 20 In and
say, What q fine store you havol ! think
business will brighten up, and you will
have mop custom after n while. | think
there Is coming a great prosperity
TO all the country. Good morning
You pass out You have helped
that young man, and you have
helped yourself. And that night you ~
home; you Nj by the fire, you talk a little,
you sing a little, you laugh a little. You
Hay, Il really don't what IL the matter
with me. never felt 10 splendidly in my
life will tell what is the matter with
you. You spent only . cents out Of the
$40; YOU have contributed one out Of the
$500 cheerful looks; you have given ten,
fifteen or twenty OF the 5000 pleasant
words you are going 20 speak during the
year. yon have, with your own hands,
helped the boy with tho whcclbarrow, and
you feel In body, mind and soul the thrill
Of the recreation. Which do you think
wns the h~appier--Col. Gardiner, who rat
with his elbow on a table spread with all
~cxuavagant viands, looking oil at q dog
on tho rug, saying, How ! would like 60
change places with him-I be the dog aud
he be Col Gardiner or those two Mo.
nyian missionaries who wanted 10 go into
the laxarctto ior the sake OF attending the
sick, and they were told, II you 60 intherc
you will never come out. We never allow
any one 20 come out, for he would bring
the contagiong' Then they made their
wills and went in-.6nt, 20 help the sick,
aud then 10 die. Which was the happier
Col. Gardiner, or the Monyian -rission-
aries dying for others7 Wa Il all sacrifice
when The missionaries wanted 10 bring the
gospel 10 the negroes az the B~arbadocs,